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Author Notes:This is a tart made for chocolate lovers with a shortbread crust. I adapted this recipe from a German tart that I found in a magazine years ago. This tart can be kept for several days and improves with age.I always serve this with whipped cream and sometimes with raspberry sauce or fresh raspberries. I have made this tart in a regular tart pan and I have also made it in little individual tart pans. —Gerlinde de Broekert

Food52 Review: This pie was easy to make and delivered the chocolate punch promised by the author. It's not the prettiest pie, especially with the meringue-type topping. However, the taste was incredibally good. The topping actually gave a nice, crunchy texture to the slice. It was a winner with my family. —FoodTherapy

In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, salt, and butter until the butter is reduced to pea-sized pieces. Add crème fraîche and egg yolk and pulse until incorporated. Put dough on a cool surface and flatten with the heel of your hand. Form into a ball. The dough will be crumbly. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and put in buttered pan. Bake for 5 minutes.

Filling and Topping

3 1/2
ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Lindt)

2
eggs, separated

1/4
cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1
tablespoon flour

1
teaspoon orange zest

1
cup chopped walnuts, divided

1
egg white

1/2
cup powdered sugar

For the filling, melt chocolate in double boiler, then cool a bit. Beat the 2 egg yolks with the sugar until fluffy and light. Stir into the chocolate. Add 1/2 cup walnuts and the flour. In a separate bowl, beat 2 egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate. Pour filling into the pie shell. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce heat to 250° F.

For the topping, beat 1 egg white until stiff, and then beat in 1/2 cup powered sugar. Fold in 1/2 cup finely-chopped walnuts and gently put on top of pie. Bake at reduced heat for 10 minutes, or more if needed. Cool and sprinkle with powered sugar.

You could try it, just use quality chocolate. The original recipe had butter (6 tablespoon) added to the chocolate. The butter was melted with the chocolate. I made it in a tart form for my mother in Germany using the butter. It was good, but a little too rich for me. If you use the butter I recommend that you increase the sugar to 1/2 a cup. I love the crust, it tastes like a shortbread cookie.